Tekkenomics Vault: Tekken 5 – Day 1

My Comments: The Tilt Arcade in the mall near my college received a Tekken 5 arcade machine. I wrote this article to convey my thoughts on the first time I played the arcade version of Tekken 5.

Later,
Wild Man X

Tekken 5 – Day 1

In this article, I will talk about my first day of playing the arcade version of Tekken 5.

NOTE: This article is mainly for those who have not yet played Tekken 5.

On December 16, 2004, I (Wild Man X) went down to the local TILT arcade:
Tilt @ Galleria at Tyler Mall
Riverside, CA 92503-4131
(951)-688-5390

Intro

I drove for about 30 minutes, and arrived at the mall at about 12:30 pm. This was actually the first time that I ever been to this arcade, but I found the arcade in just a few minutes I learned about Tekken 5 being here from the TILT website. This TILT arcade didn’t get their machine until December 14th, which is why I’m writing this now instead of sometime last month. Just in case you were wondering, TILT charges 50 cents to start and to continue a match for Tekken 5, with the matches set at best 2 out of 3.

Now, its time to go on to the reason why you’re probably reading this, the hands-on info!

Joystick

When I first arrived at the arcade, there were only two people playing. I brought my own PS2 controller, but I decided to try out the “lollipop” style joystick (Picture #8 below) that came with the machine. The joystick moves about very easily and freely, which is very different from the joystick that was used for Tekken 4. The Tekken 5 joystick will definitely take some time getting used to. My fighter was always jumping in the air with the slightest touch of the joystick, which made performing moves very difficult. Also, the buttons are placed at an angle, which is also different from Tekken 4.

PS2 Controller Ports

As you may or may not know, the Tekken 5 arcade machine comes with two controller ports for use with a PS1 or PS2 (Playstation) controller. You can only use the standard 4 buttons (square, triangle, x, circle), the D-Pad, and the start button on the controller. No buttons on the controller can be customized, so you will just have to use the default settings. The controller ports on the machine are placed in the upper corner of the machine on each side, on the back side of the joystick platform. I took a picture of the port, but it was too dark to see anything. The only problem that I had was that the controller port on left player side wasn’t working at all. So, my suggestion is that you bring a PS2 controller and hope that the controller port is working.

IC Cards

Tekken 5 introduces fighter customization to the Tekken series, similar to Virtua Fighter 4. You can purchase a card for $5 which allows you to keep track of all of your wins, losses, and money earned from battles. Each card holds data for only one fighter. You can win $1000 for winning and $250 for losing, which is what I heard. You can use the money earned from fighting to purchase items to customize your fighter’s lower body, upper body, and head. You can also purchase different colors for your clothing too. I didn’t purchase a card yet, because on my first day, I just wanted to try out every fighter. Pictures of the cards are in the “Picture Gallery” section.

The Fighters

Since the Tekken 5 arcade at TILT arcade was only operational for 2 days, the only available fighters were the default 20: Julia Chang, Craig Marduk, Kazuya Mishima, King, Bryan Fury, Yoshimitsu, Jin Kazama, Ling Xiaoyu, Christie Monteiro, Hwoarang, Marshall Law, Paul Phoenix, Lee Chaolan, Lei Wulong, Steve Fox, Nina Williams, and newcomers Raven, Feng Wei, Asuka Kazama, and Jack-5 (sort of new). The time release characters seem to arrive every 15 days. The first batch (which will come to this arcade in about 2 weeks) is Anna Williams, Baek Doo San, and Roger Jr. The second batch (30 days) is Bruce Irvin, Kuma/Panda, and Wang Jinrei. The third batch is unknown and has not yet been released anywhere, but may consist of Heihachi Mishima, Ganryu, Mokujin/Combot, Devil Jin, and a less “cheat mode” version of Jinpachi Mishima.

Devil Jin has the moves of Tekken Tag Jin, but now with lasers (Like Devil in Tekken Tag) and some other new moves. Heihachi overthrew Jinpachi (whom is Heihachi’s father) and imprisoned under Hon Maru for over 50 years, but he managed to escape. Upon him escaping, he was possessed by an evil spirit, which may or may not have something to do with why Jinpachi wants to destroy all humanity.

First Impression

The first time that I played the game, I picked my favorite fighter, Lei Wulong. Needless to say that I won the match, but I got a chance to see a few of the differences between Tekken 4 and 5 first-hand. I read up on some info at Tekken Zaibatsu, so I knew what to expect.

First off, the graphics in Tekken 5 is remarkable. The stages and the music is phenomenal. You’ll have to see and hear it in person to understand what I’m talking about. Next, the game plays more like Tekken Tag Tournament than Tekken 4. The sidestep is back to double tapping up or down rather then just tapping up or down. The new juggle system makes the person being juggled stay in the air for a longer period of time. It seems to be easier to juggle opponents. Something new to Tekken 5 is that some fighters (Marduk and King) have the ability perform air-throws on their opponent by pressing 2+4. Hwoarang has a new move that looks like an air-throw (which can be seen at the Tekken Official website). Every fighter has new moves for you to try out.

Playing the Game

The first time that I played the game on arcade mode, I was using Nina Williams, since she was the person that I was using when I beat the previous person playing. I easily went through the first six fighters, and then I reached the sub-boss, Devil Jin at the 8th stage. I got hit by a laser, which sent the match to 3 rounds, but I still managed to defeat him.

Now, I had to face the final boss, Jinpachi Mishima. I’ll have to say that Jinpachi is the most cheesy fighter in the history of Tekken. He has this fireball attack that takes about 2/3 to 3/4 of your life bar, and he also has many stun attacks that will cancel out any move that you’re doing and renders you helpless for about a second or two. Even though I watched the Korean videos about Jinpachi, I was still defeated. After 2 more attempts, I ran out of quarters and had to start from the beginning. This time, I pick Law and once again breezed through the first 8 fighters. After 2 more loses to Jinpachi, I managed to defeat Jinpachi for the first time with Paul Phoenix’s deadly “Phoenix Smasher” (QCF+2).

After beating the game once, I managed to breeze through the first 8 fighters and then lose to Jinpachi yet again, but this time with Asuka Kazama. After a few more loses, I beat the game for the second time with Steve Fox (my records can be seen in the Picture #6 below).

Fighters Fist-Look

With $8, I was able to play at least once with every one of the 20 default fighters. Below, I will list a few of my opinions about the Tekken 5 fighters
(Please note that these are just my opinions on what I’ve played)

Lei is better than he was in Tekken 4.
Hwoarang and Law have been improved greatly since Tekken 4.
Jack-5 is too slow to do anything useful.
Paul doesn’t seem all that different from Tekken 4, but his Phoenix Smasher seems deadlier.
Asuka has many of Jun’s moves and plays very well.
Raven and Feng Wei are cool.
Jin is not scrub friendly. It will take some time to learn how to effectively use him.
Marduk and King’s air-throws are cool.
Bryan has a lot of new mixups.
I have not yet noticed any differences with Ling and Christie.
Yoshimistu has a new helicopter stance that is useful.
Julia, Nina, and Kazuya seem better.
Steve has speed and power, which is a deadly combination.
To me, Lee seems to be toned down.

That’s all the info for now.

Other Stuff

After beating the game the second time, I managed to rack up a 15 game winning streak before I left, which is how I managed to play with all 20 fighters.

Also, Paulinstein and myself will be visiting the arcade a few more times before school starts up again in January, so e-mail us and let us know if there is anything specific that you would like to know about about the arcade version Tekken 5, or if there are any other pictures that you like to see.

Pictures

Click below are the pictures that I took on my first visit:
(Click below to view the picture gallery)